Embodiments of the present invention are directed to providing services to subscribers in a hybrid-fiber-coax (HFC) cable network and more specifically to determining if DOCSIS-enabled devices connected to the HFC cable network are co-located.
In the cable environment, access to the cable network's high speed data (HSD) service is provided through a cable modem. Increasingly, cable modems are required to comply with an industry standard referred to as the “Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification” or DOCSIS. DOCSIS provides a set of standards and a certifying authority by which cable companies can achieve cross-platform functionality in Internet delivery.
A DOCSIS compliant cable network comprises a cable modem termination system (CMTS) connected to DOCSIS compliant cable modems (DCCMs). DCCMs act as a digital interface between customer premises equipment and the HFC cable network. The CMTS exchanges digital signals with cable modems on a cable network and acts as a gateway to other networks.
DCCMs and other devices that are connected to a cable network have a unique a media access controller (MAC) address, also known as the physical address. This permits the cable network operator to use the MAC address as a vehicle for authorizing access to its network and further aids in billing users for services. Using a provisioning/authentication database comprising the DCCM MAC address, CMTSs within the cable network are able to determine whether a user attempting to access the cable network is a subscriber and, if so, the kind of services the subscriber is entitled to receive.
DCCMs are being placed inside more and more devices. For example, set top boxes, media terminal adapters, consumer electronics equipment such as TV sets, DVRs and audio devices may be integrated with a DCCM. In addition, the OpenCable Applications Platform Specification (OCAP) establishes standards for devices that can be connected to any cable system. Consumers may thus own an OCAP device that is equipped with a DCCM (the integrated device sometimes referred to as a DOCSIS set top gateway client or DSG client). To use the DSG client on a particular cable network, a subscriber registers the DSG client with the cable system operator.
Cable system operators have leveraged the improvement in two-way technologies to offer an expanding menu of new services. With the expansion of service offerings, multiple system operators (MSOs) typically “bundle” disparate services. Bundles are based on economic models that assume that the subscriber household is the user of the bundled services. The bundled services are also intended to attract new customers. The economics of the service bundle fail, however, when components of the bundle are shared among a subscriber and non-subscribers. This may occur in several ways.
By way of illustration, a subscriber who already has a DCCM is registered with an MSO buys a DSG client that supports web browsing, e-mail and chat. The subscriber asks the MSO to “duplicate” services on both the DCCM and the DSG client. That is, the DSG client and the DCCM are registered with the subscriber and associated with the same services such that the subscriber may receive service on both devices simultaneously. However, in this case, the subscriber uses an Ethernet connector on the DSG client to feed a home router thereby replacing the DCCM. The subscriber then gives the DCCM to a neighbor who connects it to the cable network. Because the DCCM MAC address is recognized by the cable network and is authorized to receive HSD services, the neighbor receives HSD services without any obligation to pay the MSO.
In the example described above, the theft of cable services by the neighbor costs the MSO the economics of the bundle and the opportunity of selling services to the neighbor.
What would be useful is a system and method for confirming with reasonable certainty that DCCM-enabled devices associated with a customer account are co-located and for identifying when a subscriber account is being “shared” in a way that violates the terms of the service agreement between the subscriber and a cable service provider.